Sky Sports presenter Simon Thomas who spoke about being on the brink of suicide after his wife’s death has emotional reunion with man he ‘helped save’ after seeing him ‘threatening to end his life’ on a motorway bridge
- He said it was ‘amazing’ that so many ‘good and caring people’ rushed to help
- For confidential support call Samaritans on 116123 or visit www.samaritans.org
Simon Thomas has enjoyed an emotional reunion with a man he ‘helped save’ after seeing him ‘threatening to end his life’ on a motorway bridge.
The Sky Sports presenter – who himself was on the brink of suicide following the tragic death of his wife – phoned authorities last month after he saw a man ‘looking very troubled’ on the M1 in Milton Keynes.
He then revealed on social media how he met up with the man and his partner last night and discussed how ‘amazing’ it was that so many ‘good and caring people’ rushed to help.
Mr Thomas, in a heartfelt Instagram post, also revealed that a ‘group of young lads’ had stayed with the man until the moment he was ‘taken away from danger’.
The 50-year-old is now using his online presence to raise awareness about mental health issues just months after having detailed the traumatic experience of losing his first wife to cancer in 2017.
Simon Thomas has shared a drink with a man he ‘helped save’ by calling police after witnessing him ‘threatening to end his life’ on a motorway bridge, he revealed. He is pictured last night with the man and his partner
The former Sky Sports presenter phoned authorities last month after he saw a man ‘looking very troubled’ on the M1 in Milton Keynes
Mr Thomas first connected with the man last month after he had publicly tweeted about witnessing the incident on the bridge.
He told his followers how he had seen the man ‘looking very troubled’. Although he ‘couldn’t help’, Mr Thomas ‘rang the police to alert them to what we’d seen’.
Ten days later he told his followers that the man had been in touch with him and that all those you called police had ‘made a massive difference to this man and his family.’
Now the TV presenter has revealed that he and the man have met in person.
‘This evening I went for a drink with the man from the bridge the other week and his lovely partner,’ Mr Thomas wrote in an Instagram post yesterday.
‘It was an amazing moment meeting a guy I had never met before; but whom three weeks ago I had fleetingly seen on a motorway bridge about to end it all.’
The broadcaster described how it was ‘amazing’ to learn how many people made the effort to help the man, despite living in what he says often feels like an ‘increasingly selfish and uncaring country’.
He added: ‘But there are so many good and caring people around.
‘This man has so much to still live for and owes his life to those who didn’t just walk on by on the other side; or didn’t just leave it to someone else to make that call – he owes his life to those who were willing to do something, no matter how insignificant it felt at the time.’
The post comes after Mr Thomas in April opened up on his former wife’s battle with cancer and how God ‘brought love’ back into his life with Derrina Jebb.
Gemma passed away within four days of receiving a diagnosis for acute myeloid leukemia
Mr Thomas has re-married to Derrina (right), and the couple have had their first child together
He detailed the pain of his grief in an emotionally-charged interview, after his wife, Gemma, passed away in 2017 within four days of receiving an acute myeloid leukemia diagnosis.
Gemma’s death at 40 resulted in what Thomas describes as a ‘life earthquake’, and as a result of her passing he took time off to look after his eight-year-old son, essentially tearing up his contract at Sky.
The 50-year-old recounted the rapid progression of his wife’s illness, and the profound impact that it had on his life – including his battle with his own faith.
‘We went from Monday night with her being diagnosed with a blood cancer of some sort. For a couple of days, things were looking OK the treatment was going well but then things just cartwheeled out of control.
‘On the Friday she falls unconscious and by 8.30 on Friday morning I’m being told by a consultant “she’s not going to see out the day”.
‘The very foundations on which your life has been built are trembling, there’s a massive life earthquake going on. And by 5.45pm on that Friday in November 2017 at the age of 40, with an 8-year-old son and a husband, she’s gone.
‘The first thing I did when I came out of that hospital was I just sank to my knees and shouted at God “Why? Why, why, why? Why’ve you left my boy without a mum, I don’t get it, I don’t get you God!”‘.
Mr Thomas told of the anger that he felt in the ensuing weeks following Gemma’s death, and the wrestling with his own belief, having prayed to God for his wife to recover.
He admitted that he ultimately made peace with the fact that his life would never be the same and set himself the task of being the best father he could be for his son.
The 50-year-old said he came to the realisation that the God he believes in is a God of second chances, and brought love back into his life in the form of his second wife, Jebb.
Gemma died at the age of 40 in November 2017 and is survived by Thomas and their son Ethan
Mr Thomas and Jebb were married in 2021, and have a daughter together, Talitha.
‘To see how God has brought love into my life again with Derrina has been the biggest surprise but just an amazing blessing. I never thought someone would love me, way too much baggage. And yet he has brought restoration in terms of love.
‘And now to have a daughter, who came through a really difficult premature period, and to see God at work in that situation, how he card for her, cared for Derrina, cared for us as a family, and brought us through.
‘God is the God of second chances, God is the God who rebuilds lives, who brings restoration out of wreckage and that’s been the story of my life for the last five years.’
Mr Thomas stepped away from presenting almost instantly after the death of his wife and wasn’t seen on screens for three years.
He has since re-built his career, now commonly seen presenting on channels such as Amazon Prime Video.
He has also stated people aren’t aware of the symptoms for blood cancer like they are breast cancer, despite it being the fifth most common cancer in the UK with more than 40,000 people being diagnosed with it each year.
- For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details
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